That One Particular Person
by Vanillasiren
Summary: Upon learning that Jason and Sam are back together, Alexis has a rather unexpected warning for her daughter. Please read!


A/N: This story is a little Samlexis, a little Alexis/Stefan. As with my previous story, I am using actual dialogue from the show. If you'd like to see the scenes I got the dialogue from, go to you tube and type in "General Hospital Stefan Alexis Banishment;" there are six parts, and it's very powerful stuff, IMHO. I hope you like this, even though it's really short! Please review!

That One Particular Person

Alexis had been dreading this conversation with her oldest daughter.

Even so, she was still determined to have it. She had been, ever since Molly came home babbling about the romantic couples of classical fiction and history, trying to determine which couple Sam and Jason most resembled, sounding entirely too adult in her musings. Her little Molly: 10 years old going on 40.

_You were like that too, little one. _The thought came unexpectedly, along with the imagined voice behind it. Mentally shaking herself, she gave Sam a tight smile. She'd already sent the girls off to bed – Molly in her exuberant joy, Kristina in her petulant, adolescent aloofness – and now she stood, facing Sam's determined stare.

"So I take it from Molly's ramblings that you are back together with Jason."

"Look, I already know what you're gonna say-"

"You have no idea what I'm going to say, Sam. I'm not going to say all the things I've said before. You already know he's dangerous, you've already been riddled with bullets and made barren because of him, and if that's not enough to keep you away, I don't suppose anything will be. After all, I tried my best to keep you away from him, for your own good, and look how that turned out."

Sam winced guiltily at the memory, and Alexis felt a pang of regret. She shouldn't have said that last part. Still…

"Sam … I really do want you to be happy. I've noticed how much happier you seem these days, and if Jason is the cause of that … I'm glad." She saw Sam's eyes widen in surprise, and she smiled. "However, I'm still worried you're going to be hurt-"

"I thought this wasn't going to be a repetitive conversation-"

"It isn't. I'm not talking about physical hurt. I'm talking about emotional hurt." She gestured to the couch. "Please sit."

Warily, Sam sat down, as did Alexis. She nerved herself.

"I think that, in some people's lives, there is that … well, let's just say that one particular person. It could be a spouse or lover, a," she swallowed, "family member, maybe even a dear friend. It's the person in your life that you love, that you need and depend on beyond all reason, the one who saves you and protects you like no one else can, the person who knows you better than anyone." She paused, wondering if Sam might protest, but she seemed transfixed, so Alexis continued on. "That person has more power over you that anyone in your life. Like no one else, they can build you up … and like no one else, they can tear you down, when you hurt them, or betray them, even if you think you're doing it for their own good or …" her voice broke. _Damn._ Her eyes were moist with tears, and she was veering off the point. She blinked rapidly, took a deep breath, and continued.

"I think that Jason is that person for you." Sam started to disagree, and then seemed to think better of it, lowering her head in acknowledgement of the truth.

"I know how badly you were hurt before, and I know it was at least partially my fault. I'm sorry for that. But …I just want you to be careful with your heart, Sam. I'd hate to see you hurt again."

Sam tilted her head, studying her mother. She had been as surprised by this little speech as she had been by the intensity with which Alexis delivered it.

"Well," she said, "I appreciate your concern, I really do. I'll be … as careful as I can be, both physically and emotionally. But the bottom line is, Jason and I are back together. And there's nothing that you can do about it."

"I don't intend to try to do anything about it," she said softly, slightly amused at Sam's incredulous expression. Tonight seemed to be the night for shocking her daughter. She leaned in, kissed Sam's forehead lightly, and bid her goodnight. Then she got up off the couch and walked towards her room.

"Mom?" Alexis turned. It still made her skip a beat to hear Sam call her that. She _did_ love her, despite everything. No matter how mistakes they'd both made, and no matter who her father was, she'd always be _her_ daughter.

"What is it Sam?"

"Who was … that particular person … for you?"

It was Sam's turn to surprise her. Alexis froze, and then tried very hard to school her features into an expression of detachment.

"What makes you think I had one?"

"Oh, come on. You were talking about yourself at least as much as you were talking about me." She eyed her mother, seeming worried again, guilty. "Who was it?"

Alexis felt a tightening in her throat. "Sam, I-"

"Was it Ric?"

Alexis let out of sigh of relief. No wonder she had that look on her face. "No," she said softly. "Not even close."

"So … who was it?"

And instantly, in her mind, she was there. A cold, windy November night, banging desperately on the door of Windomere. "_Stefan let me in, please, please! Please, don't send me away, please …I did betray you, but - but there's more to it than that. I need to tell you everything. I need you, please!"_

Alexis stared at her daughter. A single tear rolled down her cheek. "It's late, Sam," she whispered. "I'm sure Jason is waiting for you."

Sam looked at her mother, reading the pain on her face but not comprehending its source. She wanted so badly to know who this particular person was, because she wanted to really know her mother, to understand her, but with Alexis looking at her like that, she knew she couldn't push. She nodded and exited the house.

And Alexis, instead of going to her room and falling into a blissful, mindless sleep, sat down heavily on the couch again, and bunched the blanket up against her face, trying to smother the memories, trying to muffle the wrenching sobs.

Tomorrow, it would be like none of this ever happened. Her thoughts would again be of her daughters, and how best to protect them. But tonight, she was transformed into a child again, just as she had been on that night long ago, when _her_ one particular person, the one who had so meticulously built her up, discovered her betrayal, and had coldly, deliberately, and devastatingly torn her down.


End file.
